IV86536: UPGRADE HANGS ON AWK FROM BOS.RTE.SECURITY.POST_U APPLIES TO AIX 7100-04

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• An upgrade may hang with the awk command consuming CPU,
  writing newlines to a file called /tmp/pam.conf.<PID>
  endlessly.
  ps -ef will show that awk is being run from
  bos.rte.security.post_u
  

Local fix

• To workaround this issue, strip all comments out of
  the /etc/pam.conf file:
  
  grep -v "^#" /etc/pam.conf > /tmp/pam.conf.new
  
  Then use /tmp/pam.conf.new to replace the existing
  /etc/pam.conf, making sure to set ownership and
  permissions correctly.
  
  If an install is in progress and the awk process is
  currently hung, kill it with 'kill -9' and the install
  should continue successfully.
  

Problem summary

• A hang may occur when upgrading or removing bos.rte.security
  when comments are missing from /etc/pam.conf
  

Problem conclusion

• Line and char checks were added to prevent the state of
  /etc/pam.conf from causing an indefinite hang.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

• 6100-09 - use AIX APAR IV86523
  7100-04 - use AIX APAR IV86536
  7200-01 - use AIX APAR IV86515
  

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

  IV78256

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  AIX V7.1

• Fixed component ID

  5765H4000

Applicable component levels

• R710 PSY U859910

     UP16/10/25 I 1000